In Sickness and in Health
by StanaOmniaVincit
Summary: What happens when one of your own falls?
1. Falling

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of its characters

A Short little story, that if you want I will continue…

It had been a long week for the BAU team. They were chasing an UNSUB in their own city, Washington D.C. The case hit pretty close to home for many of them, but everyone seemed to be fine since the case was over. Except Emily, who still didn't seem to be back to normal yet.

"Hey Em, you okay?" JJ asked while looking at the very pale brunette agent packing up files in the round table room.

"Yeah JJ, I'm fine" Emily responded as convincing as she could possibly be.

"You sure? You don't look too good, maybe you should sit down" JJ continued with care.

"Really, I'm fine" Emily said while leaning against the table to stop herself from falling over. JJ quickly noticed and didn't accept that Emily was fine.

"Hotch!" JJ shouted to get the attention of the team's unit chief, who was in the hallway waiting with the rest of the agents. When Hotch heard JJ, he swiftly walking into the room, followed by the rest of the team.

"What's wrong?" Hotch asked JJ curiously. The rest of the team came into the room and was standing about five feet behind Emily near the door way.

"It's Emily, she is insisting that she's fine, but she doesn't look fine to me." JJ told Hotch while pointing to Emily.

Emily stood up and took a step back from the table before saying "Hotch, I'm fine, real-"Emily couldn't finish her sentence, she found herself wobbling and unable to keep her balance. Morgan reached out to help steady her, but it was too late. She was already falling. Hotch moved quickly and caught Emily before she hit the ground. He scooped her up in his arms and carried her into the hallway and down the steps quickly. While they were going down the steps Hotch told JJ to call an ambulance. Still carrying Emily, and being followed by the rest of the team, Hotch went straight towards the elevator to meet the ambulance down stairs. The entire team packed into the elevator.

None of them could speak, they were all in shock, and scared for their friend. Hotch couldn't focus on anything except for getting Emily to the hospital. So as soon as they walked outside they were greeted with relief at the sight of the paramedics. The paramedics had the stretcher out and ready, and Hotch placed Emily down delicately on the stretcher. Hotch just watched as the paramedics strapped the still unconscious Emily to the stretcher and load her into the ambulance. The rest of the team was huddled behind watching everything.

"One person can ride with us, that's it" They all heard one of the paramedics say.

Before anyone else on the team could say anything, Hotch blurted out "I'll go!"

"We'll meet you there" JJ said before waving the other members of the team to follower her to the SUV's.

Hotch stepped into the back of the ambulance, hoping that he wouldn't lose her again.

If you want me to continue please leave a comment!


	2. Awoken

As soon as Emily arrived at the hospital the doctors quickly poked and prodded preforming test after test. All the while the rest of the team was sitting in the waiting room hoping for good news. Hotch was impatiently tapping his foot, hoping for good news, while filling out the paperwork for Emily's admittance.

"What's it been? Like an hour?" JJ asked everyone impatiently

"One hour and twenty seven minutes" Hotch answered precisely

"How long's it gonna take?" Read asked worried

"Tests take time kid" Morgan responded

"It's gonna be okay" Rossi assured the group.

Hotch finished the paperwork and walked it over to the nurses' station. When he got back he couldn't hide his worry and Rossi said again "She's gonna be okay Aaron."

Another half an hour went by before the doctor finally came into the waiting room.

"Is in the room?" The young female doctor asked. Hotch jolted to his feet and said "Yeah, that's me!"

"Ms. Prentiss is awake and she would like to see you" The young doctor said while gesturing for him to follow her. Hotch looked back at the rest of the team, who wore approving looks. He followed the doctor down a hallway for a short distance before coming to a patient's room.

"She's a little groggy and confused, so be patient with her okay?" The doctor said before opening the door. Hotch just nodded his head and walked into the room. He couldn't contain the smile that graced his face at the sight of her being awake. His heart nearly skipped a beat when he was greeted with a smile in return from her. Hotch immediately grabbed a chair from the edge of the small hospital room and slid it as close to Emily's bed that he could before sitting down. Emily was still smiling but her smile widened even more so when she felt the warmth of his hands on hers.

"Hey, how ya doin?" Hotch asked softly, with his soothing voice.

"I've been better, but I can't remember anything past the arrest this morning, what happened?" Emily asked weakly.

"You were helping JJ pack up files in the round table room, then you just collapsed" Hotch said trying to stop the memory from returning to his brain.

"Really?" Emily asked surprised

"Yeah, I carried you down stairs to the ambulance" Hotch said trying to hide his worry

"Oh my god, do the doctors know what's wrong yet?" Emily questioned

"No, the nurse told me it would be a couple of hours" Hotch replied trying not to worry Emily.

"Oh…Where's the rest of the team?" Emily asked

"They're in the waiting room, do you want to see them?" Hotch asked hoping to cheer her up.

"Yeah, that would be nice" Emily replied with a small smile returning to her face.

"I'll go get them" He said with a smile before brushing back Emily's hair and placing a kiss softly on her forehead.

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><p>I will keep adding chapters as I write them so stay tuned, and don't forget to review!<p> 


	3. Caught in the Act

Emily tried to sit up when she heard a swift nock at the door, but she just couldn't muster up the strength. She smiled slightly as the members of her team came in the room and crowded around her bed.

"Hey, ya feel any better?" JJ asked quietly, standing next to the foot of the bed. Emily shifted slightly, feeling uncomfortable at being surrounded and stared at.

"Yeah, I guess" Emily responded, unsure of how to keep this conversation going. Emily tried to sit up again, visibly failing in the attempt.

"Slow down, relax, you need to rest" Hotch said very sweetly before moving from by the door to the right side of her bed.

"No, I'm fine" Emily protested while trying to sit up, and again failing.

"He's right Emily you need to relax" Rossi chimed in sounding a little less sweet.

"Last time you said you were fine you passed out" JJ said boldly before giving Emily an _I told you so_ look. Emily couldn't figure out what to say to that and just laid there.

"Do the doctors know anything yet?" Reid finally asked

"No, they told me it would take a few hours" Hotch answered.

"I hope it's nothing serous" Morgan added. Garcia, who was standing next to Morgan on the left side of the bed, lightly punched Morgan after he comment.

"Of course it's not serious! She's going to be perfectly fine!" Garcia stated loudly

"Hey you guys, can I have a minute along with Emily, and can you wait in the hall?" Hotch asked. Ordered, his team. Everyone nodded in agreement before leaving the room.

"What's wrong?" Emily asked with her raspy voice. Hotch noticed the dryness and poured a glass of water from the pitcher on the nightstand next to her bed. Emily tried once again to sit up and this time succeeded. Hotch put a straw into the cup and held it out so Emily could take a drink without moving. After taking a long drink, Emily said "Thank you, now what's wrong?"

"We should tell them, I feel bad just standing here, not holding your hand or anything! I'm your boyfriend for god's sake!" Hotch replied

"Fine, but how do you suggest we tell them?" Emily asked laughing slightly at his mini rant.

"I have my ways" Hotch said with a smirk. He then went out in the hall and told the rest of the team that they could come in the room again. They all reclaimed their previous places. Hotch sat down in his chair next to Emily. They all sat in silence for another five minutes before Emily finally spoke up asking Hotch "Can I have some more water please?"

"Sure hun" Hotch replied carefully before leaning down and placing a soft kiss on her dry lips. Hotch continued normally to retrieve the glass of water from the night stand, completely ignoring the state of shock the rest of the team was in. Emily tried to hold back a smile while licking her lips, but she couldn't and let out a small grin.

"Wha-?" Morgan asked completely shocked

"Umm." JJ mumbled while the rest of them were silent

"Here ya go" Hotch said while repeating the process with the water that he had done earlier. Emily took another long drink, attempting to hold back a laugh while looking at the rest of the teams faces.

"You two are a couple?" Garcia asked excitedly with an enormous smile that stretched ear to ear. Hotch put the water back on the nightstand and sat back down holding Emily's hand.

"How long?" Reid asked completely surprised.

"Four months" Both Emily and Hotch said in unison. They looked at each other for a brief moment and smiled before returning their attention to the team.

"Why didn't you tell us?" JJ asked, sounding a little hurt.

"We were afraid of how you were going to react…" Hotch said putting on his best _I'm sorry _face. Again the team stood in silence until Morgan smiled and said "Well it's about damn time!"

Everyone began to chuckle at Morgan's comment until they heard a loud knock at the door proceeded by the young doctor walking in.

"I need to speak with Ms. Prentiss, could you all wait in the hall for a moment?" The young doctor asked politely. The team exchanged worried looks before leaving the room. When Hotch got up to leave, Emily grabbed his hand and asked the doctor "Can he stay?"

"Sure" The young doctor replied. Hotch sat back down and held onto Emily's hand again.

"I have a diagnosis" The young doctor said with a neutral face.


	4. Relief

"Ms. Prentiss your test results show that you are anemic, it means you have an iron deficiency probably brought on by stress. It's what caused you to faint. Have you been under a lot of stress lately?" The young doctor asked.

"Stress is an understatement for everything she's been through in the past year! " Hotch responded cringing at the memory of her _death. _ The doctor simply shook off his comment and continued

"We are going to release you but you need to stop at the pharmacy and pick up a bottle of Iron vitamin pills that you will need to take daily for a month. You need to take it easy for a few days. I suggest taking a few days off of work. You will need to be with someone for a few days in case you get worse, do you have someone that can take care of you?" The doctor asked.

Emily started to say no but was interrupted by Hotch saying "She has me. She's coming home with me"

The doctor gave Hotch a smile before saying "Then if you could please fill out the discharge papers at the nurses' station, then you are free to go" With that the doctor left the room and the team came flooding in.

"So, is she okay?" JJ asked Hotch worried

"Yeah, just anemic, but we're gonna be taking a few days off of work, so everybody take a well-earned vacation. See you at work next week" Hotch said smiling at Emily.

Emily gave Hotch a soft "Thank you" before he left the room to get the discharge papers.

JJ looked behind her to make sure Hotch was out of sight before saying "Okay spill!"

"Spill what?" Emily asked innocently

"How did you two get together?" JJ asked wide eyed.

"Well…" Emily trailed off

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><p>I have one more chapter for sure ready to be posted so don't think this is the end :)<p> 


	5. Girl Talk

"Come on, I'm your best friend you have to tell me!" JJ pleaded

"Hey I'm her best friend too! Tell both of us!" Garcia chimed while moving to the other side of Emily's bed.

"Fine but only you two" Emily said before looking at the men on her team and continuing "Sorry boys this a story I don't think any of you really want to here, it gets pretty graphic" Emily couldn't stop the soft laugh the escaped her lips when she saw the looks on the men's faces.

"Yeah, okay, I'll be in the hall" Rossi said before shuffling out

"Yeah, me too" Reid said awkwardly

"Uh yeah, I'll pass on this story princess" Morgan said following Reid out

JJ looked to make sure they were out of the room before saying "Okay, now spill!"

"Was it really that graphic?" Garcia asked with a sultry smile

"No, I just said that to get the guys out of the room" Emily said wondering what was going through Garcia's mind at this point.

"Aww!" Garcia whined

"No, it was elegant and he was a complete gentleman" Emily stated simply

"Okay start from the very beginning!" JJ said wide eyed

"Okay, remember the night after the New York case, when we got back we all went to the bar?" Emily asked while a smile graced her lips at the memory.

"Yeah it was a week before Christmas" JJ said intrigued while Garcia sat in silence hanging on to every word Emily said.

"Well I was a little tipsy and Aaron, Hotch, said he wasn't going to let me drive and gave me a lift home" Emily continued

"Yeah…" JJ said

"Well he walked me up to my apartment to make sure I got there fine, and when we were walking up the stairs my neighbor came out In the hall and pointed out the mistletoe that was hanging from the ceiling at the top of the stairs" Emily said still smiling

"Ooo!" Garcia finally said like a teenage girl at a sleepover.

"And the next thing I knew, he's kissing me" Emily added

"Oh my god! What happened next?" JJ asked now her being the one to sound like a teenage girl.

"We kissed way longer than we should have, then we started moving towards my apartment, then we were in my bedroom…" Emily said with a slick smile.

"Yeah…" JJ said urging her friend to continue

"You know…We did…it…" Emily said, cheeks flaring red

"I thought you said he was a gentleman about it?" Garcia asked smiling

"He was, he took me out for breakfast the next morning before work" Emily said laughing slightly

"And you've been together ever since?" JJ questioned

"Yeah, pretty much" Emily said before hearing the door open and seeing Hotch walk in.

"Hey, paperwork is all filled out, you ready to go?" Hotch asked Emily sweetly

"Yeah" Emily said; ready to get out of the hospital

Hotch looked at JJ and Garcia who were just staring at him with slight smiles before asking "What?"

"Nothing" They said in unison before walking out laughing.

"What was that about?" Hotch asked Emily curiously

"Just girl talk" Emily said before continuing "Now let's go home"


End file.
